Showing posts with label pet sitting business. Show all posts
Showing posts with label pet sitting business. Show all posts

Start Pet Sitting Business

Start Your Own Pet Sitting Business Today!

Are you ready to be the owner of your own amazing professional pet sitting business?

Are you read to be your own boss?  Set your own hours?  See happy pets on a daily basis that bring a smile to your face?

If so, you are at the right place!
We will tell you ALL you need to know to start your own professional pet sitting business!

Best of all...IT IS ALL FREE!!!!
That is right.  We want you to have all of the available, up to date information to help start you on the right track.

We know how hard it is to find all the information you need.  We understand the frustration and neck aches while you are browsing for this information all over the web.  Now, you can find it ALL right here!

This blog will discuess all areas of pet sitting from setting up to the day to day activites to hiring help once you grow.

Even if you already have your own pet sitting business, we will still be providing you with very useful pet sitting business advice.  We will be discussing many aspects of advertising with a focus on free and low-cost advertising.  So, this is even for you veterans out there.

More Pet Sitting Business Info



Business Structure

What Type of Business Structure Should You Set Up?

There are 5 different business structures in which you can set up your business as.

These are:
  1. Sole Proprietor -Most common
  2. Partnership
  3. Corporation (Inc. or Ltd.)
  4. S Corporation
  5. Limited Liability Company (LLC) - Second most common

Let's talk about the Sole Proprietor first: The sole proprietorship is the most common structure to form amongst pet sitters. It is inexpensive to form. It is usually owned by a single person or a married couple. The owner is personally liable for all business debts and may file on their personal income tax.

Next is the Partnership: Partnerships are also inexpensive to form. They usually require an agreement between two or more individuals to jointly own and operate the business. The partners share all aspects of the business (good and bad) in accordance to the agreement. It could be a 50/50 partnership or anything else agreed to in writing. Partnerships do not pay taxes, but must file an informational return. Individual partners would then report their share of profits and losses on their personal return.

Next is a Limited Liability Corporation or LLC: This is very common amongst pet sitters. It is advantageous for small businesses because it reduces the risk of losing all your personal assets should you be faced with a law suit. It separates your business and personal assets. You can also elect to be taxed like a corporation which saves you at tax time.

Next is a C Corporation: This is a complex business structure with more start up costs than many others. This is not a very common structure amongst pet sitters since there are shares of stocks involved. Profits are taxed both at the corporate level and again when distributed to shareholders. Lawyers are usually involved at this level.

And Finally is a S Corporation: This is more common than the C Corporation since it avoids double taxation. It is taxed like a Partnership. A business must be approved to be classified as such, so it is not a very common entity amongst pet sitters.

There are also other structures which are specific to certain states. Some of these include Limited Partnership and Limited Liability Partnership. As always, we recommend getting professional advice from your accountant and lawyer as to which would be more advantageous to your business from a legal and taxable point of view.

In the next installment we will talk about where to purchase insurance and bonding.

Business Forms for your Pet Sitting Business

Pet Sitter Insurance

Pet Sitter Insurance

In this section we will discuss the different types of pet sitting insurance companies available for your pet sitting business.

Pet Sitting insurance is very important for your business. Pet Sitting Insurance will cover you from any damage you may cause to the client's home such as knocking over an expensive vase. It will also cover you if you lose grip of the dog's lead and it attacks another dog or person. Most clients will expect you to have pet sitting liability insurance to protect themselves and their pet while they are in your care.

Below is a list of all the pet sitting insurance companies we could find in select countries. We have provided you with a link to each company website and some pricing information (scroll down the page).

Please visit each pet sitting insurance company in your country to compare deductibles, premiums, coverage amounts, etc. to be sure you are receiving the correct coverage for your business.


United States Pet Sitting Liability Insurance Providers:

  • In the US, you can purchase pet sitter insurance through PSA, LLC. This organization is different because their pet sitting insurance fee is included in the annual membership fee. The membership dues are a low fee of $190 per year! This is for membership AND pet sitting insurance. You can also purchase special property coverage for an additional $100 per year. This works similar to bonding (only better) and will cover your business against personal property damage, care, custody and control and theft.
Visit http://www.petsitllc.com/ for more information on their membership or to fill out and application. You can also see there pet sitting insurance coverage specifically at http://www.insfac.com/petsitters.php.
  • Business Insurers of the Carolinas is contracted with PSI and NAPPS. This means you must be a member of either organization in order to purchase their insurance.
  • Pet Sitters International (PSI) membership only starts at $145/year plus $10 initial fee.
  • National Association of Professional Pet Sitters (NAPPS) membership only starts at $175/year plus application fee.
Once you pay for membership to either PSI or NAPPS, you can then purchase pet sitting insurance through Business Insurers of the Carolinas. Insurance coverage starts at $470/year.
  • Mourer Foster offers pet sitting liability insurance. Insurance coverage starts at $350. You can also pay your premiums annually, semi-annually or quarterly which is nice for those on a tight budget.

Canadian Pet Sitting Liability Insurance Providers:
  • Canadian Pet Pro offers pet sitting liability insurance for $800 per year. You do not need to belong to any organizations. You can pay with credit card as well as make monthly payments.
  • Binks offers insurance to Canadian members of PSI. The cost of the insurance starts at $600 plus membership to PSI (which starts at $145).
  • Again (for Canada), Mourer Foster offers pet sitting liability insurance. Insurance coverage starts at $350. You can also pay your premiums annually, semi-annually or quarterly which is nice for those on a tight budget. 
United Kingdom Pet Sitting Liability Insurance Providers:
  • Pet Business Insurance provides insurance starting at £109.00 for care, custody and control. You can also add on employee coverage, equipment coverage and more. 
  • Protectivity offers insurance specifically to pet care providers.  Their rates start  at £73.59/year.
Australian Pet Sitting Insurance Carriers:

If you know of any pet sitting insurance company not listed above, please let us know so that we can update our information. Click here to send an email.

Hiring IC's

Independent Contractors

So, by now, you have your business set up, you are advertising and the calls are rolling in!  Yay!  Good job.  So what happens when you are too busy and can't keep up with it all?

You can do two things.:
  1. Stop taking on new clients or...
  2. Hire Help
We will use this section to talk about hiring IC's (Independent Contractors).

There are many tax advantages to using IC's:
  1.  You don't have to pay the employers part of federal withholdings, social security and medicare. 
  2. You don't have to purchase workman's comp. 
  3. You also save on insurance since your IC's must carry their own insurance.
For these reasons and others, many people choose to go the route of hiring IC's.

Before you go there, make sure you do your research! Many states have very specific rules about the classification of an IC. All states differ with this, so you want to make sure you are following the rules of your state.

IC Restrictions:

IC's run their own business. You can not tell an IC what to do, where, when or how. This is only for employees. You can tell the IC you have a job for them, what it is, where and what times the client wants them there, but that is all. You have no control over an IC and this is one of the major disadvantages.

Many states do not allow you to use an IC for services you offer your clients normally. This will vary from state to state. For example, if you offer pet sitting as your primary service, you can not subcontract out pet sitting jobs. However, if you have a client ask for grooming services, you can subcontract for that.

IC Rules:

An IC carries their own insurance and business license. You can also carry supplemental insurance that will cover IC's just in case their coverage is not enough.

An IC is responsible for reporting their own income. You will provide the IC with a 1099 at the end of the year reporting their income.

An IC is not entitled to any benefits (medical, unemployment, workman's comp.)

An IC should keep your client's information and your business information private. For this, you should have your IC sign a non-solicit agreement.

All IC's should sign an IC agreement. This is to show the IRS you are using an IC and the IC has agreed to the rules of being classified as an IC.

If the IRS feels you have an employee that you are classifying as an IC, they will impose fines on you and you will also be responsible for backtaxes. So, you want to be sure you are doing this properly.